Pretty/Tough Mask by Linda Edkins Wyatt

Hi! Linda Edkins Wyatt here, with my interpretation of StencilGirl's mask theme. I thought long and hard about what kind of mask to make: a Halloween or Mardi Gras festive mask, a Tragedy & Comedy mask, or maybe a medical mask, since I spent the last 10 months wearing a medical mask daily for my job in a New York City public hospital.

 

But, as I was paying the cashier at my local drugstore, I saw a poster of an eye makeup ad that was really bold and unconventional. It got me thinking about how we use makeup, hairdos, tattoos, clothing, and jewelry as part of the mask, we put on daily to present ourselves to the world. Some people go with a natural look, using makeup to enhance their good features and minimize the imperfections. Others take things a few steps further, with extreme eye makeup, striking tattoos, and elaborate hairstyles.

 

An an oil self-portrait from around 2005 was the basis for the mask

I thought back to an oil self-portrait that I had painted years ago, around 2005, when I was having some serious health issues. I looked sullen and unhappy and painted myself exactly the way I felt. I had been taking a medication that had the side-effect of being unable to sleep without a sleep-inducing medications. I was frustrated and bone-weary. It was a vicious cycle of exhaustion and anxiety. Fortunately, I had photographed the painting, so for this project, I printed two copies of the painting from my inkjet printer, using one for the canvas and saving one for the mask.

A printout of the 2005 portrait was trimmed and glued to an unfinished 12" x 12" canvas

I took an unfinished 12"x12" canvas that hadn't turned out the way I envisioned, and glued one portrait on top using matte medium. I added recycled, empty teabags to join the printout to the canvas, then stenciled until it merged  and I could no longer tell where the printout ended and the canvas began.

Recycled, empty teabags were glued to the canvas, uniting the background and the printout

The printout on the canvas with all teabags added

My Spiral from the Lemurian Garden collection was added with Speckled Egg ink to soften the darkness of the teabags

To further lighten the teabags and unite the elements,
the Tapestry stencil was added using Spun Sugar ink

Once the background was complete, I cut out the face from the second printout

My idea was to create a removable mask for the portrait: a tough but pretty mask. So, with the second self-portrait printout, I again used matte medium, but this time adhered it to a piece of rusted fabric. I used flesh-toned paint the way you would use a makeup base, and pinks (the way you would use blush and lipstick). The eye makeup was inspired by one of the makeup ads I saw in the drugstore.

Rusted cotton was the background for the removable mask.

The eyes were enhanced using Posca Pens

Paint and Posca Pens simulated foundation, blush, lipstick, and eye makeup

A comparison of the finished background with the unfinished mask

I gessoed over the glasses perched atop my head in the original painting,
then added wild blue hair. After trying several stencils for a neck tattoo,
I settled on part of a Sacred Heart by Laurie Milka

 Once I had the face and hair painted, I used a plate to draw a circular shape and added extensions at the side to attach the mask to the canvas.

I pinned the painted rusty fabric, along with some felt padding and a purple batik backing, and cut the circle, leaving strips at the sides to attach the mask to the canvas.

Here you can see the "quilt sandwich" layers in the mask

I lightly quilted the mask and stitched the edges closed, adding pink chalk lines and pink stitching radiating out from the face.

The pink chalk lines were intended to be guidelines for the quilting, but I decided to leave the pink chalk, and also use pink for the thread to contrast with the blue hair.

A few spots of Velcro on the side of the canvas and on the mask tabs made it easy to remove and attach.

Velcro tabs were the perfect solution so that the mask would be easily removable.

It was pretty bizarre to try outlandish makeup, hairdos, jewelry, and tattoos on myself! I tried various crown ideas, a few different stencils to suggest a neck tattoo, and gave my mask-self wild blue hair. You can see in the photo below that the features on the mask and the canvas under-painting match exactly.

On the right, the painted canvas, with an understated version of me. On the left, the mask shows what I might look like if I let loose and embraced bold makeup and hair. You can see that the two versions match perfectly since they were based on the same self-portrait painting.

 The final touches were adding a crown, made from Gwen Lafluer's Art Deco Borders stencil done with embossing powder on rusted fabric, fake blue and green gems around the edges of the mask circle, earrings of Turkmen Jewelry Parts from Gwen Lafluer's website, a few strips of turquoise washi tape, and a cross atop the crown, formed from a section of Laurie Milka's Pilgrimage to the Renaissance.

Here's a video (with music) on the whole process, start to finish. Enjoy!

Stencils used:

Linda Edkins Wyatt, Lemurian Spiral

Kristie Taylor, Tapestry

Gwen Lafluer, Art Deco Borders

Laurie Milka, Four Sacred Hearts

Laurie Milka, Pilgrimage to the Renaissance

Additional resource:
For the jewelry, I incorporated bits of Turkmen Jewelry Parts from Gwen Lafluer's website
Inks, paints and Posca Pens from The Ink Pad NYC

 

Stencil & Stitch on Clothing

Sometimes, all you need is that One. Perfect. Stencil. 

Pam Carriker’s Heart Stencil (L032) called out to me as I was teaching a class called Visual Mending based on the book by Jenny Wilding Cardon. I asked the class to bring in items of clothing they loved but were flawed from years of use. 

Those of us of <ahem> a certain age may have fond memories of ironing on very cool images like mushrooms, flowers and such on our blue jeans, and then stitching them up. Guess what? It's baacckk!

Visual Mending is about finding creative and artistic ways to keep those beloved wardrobe items in the lineup even with stains, holes, or tears. 

My go-to, adored, and 20+-year-old jean jacket was calling out for some bling. Pam’s stencil was the perfect fit to jazz it up. I used multiple colors and weights of thread in chain stitch, french knots, backstitch, satin stitch, some random cross, and seed stitches, and even added some beading at the end because, more is more, right??

I approach my stitching as I do my Mixed Media — with layers. Although this stencil would have been beautifully stitched all in one color, I think the depth and interest come in adding layers and layers of color and a neutral from time-to-time. 

I get asked a lot of questions about stenciling on fabric and stitching, itself. This project made me think about those, and below are the top questions and answers I give.

What needle should I use?

You want a sharp needle that you can thread with the weight of the thread you are using. Chenille needles are great because they have a sharp point and a big eye. You generally don’t want an eye bigger than you need, especially on fine fabrics like silk and thin cotton. Milliner’s needles and embroidery needles are also good choices. I’ve only learned the names recently. Like a paintbrush, grab what feels good in your hand and go. 

What do you use to stencil on fabric?

I suppose I *should* try fabric paint, but I just grab either white or black gesso or a non-sticky acrylic paint (matte-like Paper Artsy). Generally, when I’m stitching I plan on covering up the paint so the most important thing is for me to be able to see the image to stitch. 

What threads/floss should I use?

I use EVERYTHING! In the picture is good old reliable DMC Floss and I usually split the 6 strands into 2-3. Valdani makes gorgeous little balls of Pearl Cotton (12) and this can get as thick as the variegated DMC (5) strand in the photo (the smaller the number, the bigger the thread). Lately, I’ve fallen in love with thread for Sashiko stitching - the white hank. I use them all interchangeably and have baggies of floss sorted by color....actually, that's a lie. I have SOME baggies of floss sorted by color and small bags and plastic containers with wads of floss. But, I digress.  

Are the threads colorfast? What if I do all this stitching and then it bleeds on my fabric?

Yes, that would be very sad. I tell folks to make a little test sample with the threads you want to use on similar fabric or on a part of the garment that doesn’t show then throw it in the washer. If you are too impatient for that, swish the thread in some water and Dawn and lay it on the fabric to see what happens. 

Now, dig out those Bell Bottoms and get stitching!!!

oxoxo

Kristin

Carol Wiebe has 5 new stencils: Sacred Feminine and Stitched!

Express yourself with Designer Carol Wiebe's stencils 

and let your stories manifest. 

Enjoy are Carol's stencil stories:

The Sacred Feminine and Being Stitched

We like to say when we find something hilarious, that it has us in stitches. Humor and our most profound feelings are intimately related. We need depth to entertain both.

The sacred feminine stencils were created out of a need to express the feminine in a way that honored it, and which offered a few symbols that might be applied to a page to further such an expression. Every woman has her own beliefs in what is sacred—it is a supremely personal expression.  The moon, birds, spirals, and triangles (in this case forming diamonds and a goddess’ eye (more traditionally called a god’s eye, but I do not feel obligated to represent what is traditional).

Let me tell you how I feel about the Stitched Stencils:

First, women have a LONG history of stitch work: quilting, embroidery, mending.

Second, to elaborate on mending, we can mend socks, but we can also mend our own hearts and minds, both with stitch and as we stitch.

Third, when someone is injured they go to get stitches, to get stitched up. There is that healing aspect again.

Fourth, many are adding stitching to their journals and mixed media work. I love the earthy sound of the word stitch. It is short and to the point. It rhymes with a word every woman has probably been called sometime in her life. 

In other words, I love the title "Stitched." And these stencils come from work I have now stitched on, literally, for hundreds of hours! It represents the many little fabric shapes I have stitched together. I call it NYTE work (Not Your Traditional Embroidery)

     

  

I warmed up with all these stencils by applying them to some of the backgrounds I had painted in an art journal.

Here, There and Everywhere Art Journal

Sacred Feminine Stencil, S539

Something I have started doing lately is printing out my digital art and collaging it into my art journals. You can see examples of that in some of these pages. Also take note of how I started putting bits of the featured stencils here, there and everywhere. Can you find them on these pages? Think “Finding Waldo.”

Casting Light

Transformation

Diamonds in the Sky

Double Spiral (cloth page)

Energetic Beings

Birds Love the Sky

Miraculous (cloth page)

Goddess Parts (cloth page)

In the following pages, the goddess figures are prominent.

Gods Eyes

Energy Lines

Toll

Good Eggs

Accordion Book

Sacred Feminine Winged Figure Stencil, S538

The accordion book, Sacred Elements, depicts the elements of Earth, Fire, Water, and Air within the skirts of the goddess, with a more ephemeral goddess representing Spirit in the middle. I have used the Stitched stencils in the backgrounds of these figures.

Bruised Goddess: Sacred Cards and Box

I painted a box, and the card faces, in the colors of bruises. We all bear our bruises in life, our wounds, and I wanted to show that the sacred feminine offers understanding and healing to us.

Here is the box, and a few of the cards.

I hope you have enjoyed this reveal and the number of ways I have played with these stencils to illustrate my artistic processes. I now pass the baton on to you, and assure you that I will be looking for your results, should you do me the honor of choosing some of these stencils to use within your own work.

May the sacred feminine be with you, and may you stitch your wounds as you practice your own creativity.

Carol Wiebe
Silverspring Studio